March 21 (SeeNews) - Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that the army's 10-year procurement programme has been updated after defence was allocated 2% of GDP in 2017, in line with the country's commitments to NATO.
"By implementing this updated programme jointly with NATO we will initiate an essential procurement programme which will require the participation of national enterprises for the manufacture of certain types of military equipment, such as armoured 8x8 and 4x4 vehicles, armoured and unarmoured light transport vehicles, multi-role aircraft, command and control systems, and corvettes," Iohannis said in a statement following a quarterly meeting of Romania's Supreme National Defence Council.
Iohannis emphasized that the allocation of 2% of GDP to the ministry of defence has a double impact on national security. On the one hand, increased funding will support enhanced modernization of the Romanian armed forces, and on the other, it will help revitalize the national defence industry.
In order to reach the 2% target, Romania will add 4.9 billion lei ($1.15 billion/1.07 billion euro) to the defence ministry's budget in 2017. In 2016, Romania's defense spending relative to GDP stood at 1.48%.
The defence spending target of 2% of GDP was established at NATO's summit in Wales in 2014. Member states pledged to aim at spending 2% of their respective GDP on defence by 2024. The allies which were already meeting the NATO spending target pledged to aim to continue to do so. The states whose share of GDP spent on defence was below this level also pledged to halt any decline in defence expenditure and increase spending in real terms as GDP grows.
Iohannis also said that Romania is sending this year 120 soldiers to NATO's Battle Group in Poland, as agreed in 2016 at NATO's summit in Warsaw.
Romania joined NATO in 2004, along with Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
In May, the Aegis Ashore NATO ballistic missile defence base at Deveselu, in southwestern Romania, became operational.
(1 euro=4.5634 lei)